Chapter 2: The Two Objects Clash

  Following the source of the bird's chirping, Ding Hao found a black dot in the upper left corner.

  At first glance, it was just a small black cloud. After a while, the black cloud gradually approached, and the bird's chirping sound became more urgent, which was especially piercing in the quiet forest.

  When I looked again, the black cloud had expanded more than tenfold. It was originally a golden giant eagle, but what's strange is that the eagle's eyes were deep red, like two ghostly fires floating in the night forest. But what's even stranger is that there was also a horn on the eagle's head, and it had four pairs of claws. Its wings spread wide, reaching ten meters long. When it dived down from the sky, it seemed to block out even the moonlight. What kind of eagle is this!

  It was clear that the giant bird's target was the monster from just now. The giant bird's flying speed was obviously faster than the monster's running speed. Although they were still some distance apart at first, it only took a moment for them to get close. As the two objects moved, their distance from Ding Hao had become somewhat far away, and they could no longer be seen clearly in his line of sight. Without hesitation, Ding Hao got down from the tree and followed the trail left behind by the monster as it fled.

  No longer intentionally slowing down his pace, half a time later, Ding Hao had already heard the huge impact sound, interspersed with bird calls and rustling sounds.

  Ding Hao slowed down his pace, carefully approaching the source of the sound. In his line of sight, a giant eagle appeared first, hovering in mid-air, while the Double-Horned Python Monster was constantly changing its posture, always keeping its python head firmly facing the eagle's head.

  The giant eagle was constantly changing its movements in the air, as if searching for the best moment to attack. After another spin, it flew behind a towering tree, blocking the python's line of sight. The python's dark purple eyes showed a brief loss of focus, seemingly puzzled by the eagle's whereabouts. In the next instant, the eagle reappeared behind the python's head, its four golden claws swooping down like iron hooks towards the python's brain.

  At this time, the python monster's head had not yet turned around, and it was suddenly hit by this blow. It let out a strange, piercing cry that sounded like neither a snake nor an insect. The scales on the back of its head were torn apart, and deep red blood flowed out. Its two pairs of wings flapped wildly towards the giant eagle, but they had no ability to fly, only continuously emitting ear-piercing shrieks.

  The giant eagle continued to respond with bird calls, but the python monster had already suffered a loss and became more cautious, and the giant eagle could no longer find a better opportunity to strike!

  A giant eagle hovered above a python monster, which was also constantly changing its body along with the giant eagle.

  The stalemate lasted for a moment, and the python monster seemed unwilling to stay any longer. It flew rapidly in one direction, its speed even faster than before. The giant eagle let out a sharp cry and chased after the python monster, while Ding Hao carefully followed behind.

  When I saw the two objects again, I found that the giant eagle was hovering above a dark cave, while the python monster was desperately trying to rush in, but the giant eagle kept blocking its entry.

  The cave is about two meters wide and should be the python's lair. As long as it enters this cave, it will be safe. The giant eagle cannot enter due to its size.

  The two monsters fell into a stalemate again, at this time, the cave echoed with several strange screams similar to those of the python monster, but much weaker, and then made even weaker wailing sounds, like a baby crying when someone covered its mouth with a cloth.

  The stalemate was broken again, and the python monster suddenly became frantic, no longer caring about the giant eagle circling in the sky, rushing towards the mountain cave entrance.

  The long-awaited opportunity for the giant eagle finally arrived, a sharp bird cry almost tore through Ding Hao's eardrum. The four claws were grasping towards the python monster's forehead, and the python monster seemed to have completely forgotten the threat of the giant eagle, still rushing towards the cave. When it was two zhang away from the cave, the giant eagle's four claws finally grabbed onto the python monster's brain - exactly where it had been grabbed by the giant eagle last time.

  But this time, the giant eagle didn't just grab and release like last time. Instead, it started using its iron hook-like claws to tear at the python's hindbrain, causing even more blood to seep out.

  The furious python monster used its bucket-like body to constantly slap the giant sculpture, but its body was still slowly crawling towards the cave. At this time, the giant sculpture had already torn open a several-decimeter-long wound on the back of the python's head. At this moment, Ding Hao discovered that in the wound on the back of the python's head, a dark purple red light flashed by, and with this red light, Ding Hao found that the light actually came from a dragon eye-sized bead inside the python's wound.

  And at this time, the python monster rebounded and its tail hit the giant eagle's body heavily. The giant eagle was also loosened by this heavy blow, and its four iron claws were shaken off. The eagle's body, like a small mountain, even appeared to be momentarily unbalanced in mid-air, and it flapped its wings several times before regaining its balance.

  When the giant statue stabilized its body and began to plan another attack, the python monster's body had already completely drilled into the hole.

  The giant eagle was helplessly circling in mid-air, when suddenly a loud angry roar echoed from within the cave: "You dare, you wicked creature!"

  Ding Hao was shocked and found that there was actually someone inside the cave!

  Then the cave continued to come from the fighting collision sound, occasionally mixed with the old man's breathing sound and the python monster's sharp cry, several breaths later the cave was quiet again.

  The giant bird also flapped its wings and flew into the sky until it became a black dot and disappeared.

  Everything has returned to calm again, if it weren't for the traces of fighting on the ground, Ding Hao had begun to doubt whether what just happened was real. Everything he saw and heard just now was too unbelievable for him, with a huge difference from his daily cognition.

  At this time, Ding Hao was extremely curious about what had happened inside the cave and began to consider whether he needed to go in and investigate carefully. However, the recent battle scene still left him with a lingering fear, and both the fight between the two monsters and the sound of the old man and the python monster's battle inside the cave made him feel the threat of death.

  After careful observation, Ding Hao confirmed that there was no movement inside the cave. He gripped his newly purchased hunting knife tightly and cautiously approached the entrance of the mountain cave.

  Ding Hao arrived at the entrance of the cave and hesitated for a moment, then pricked up his ears to listen carefully before continuing to venture into the depths of the cave. At first, when Ding Hao entered the cave, his eyes were met with complete darkness that was so dense he couldn't see his own hand in front of him. He fumbled forward for over a dozen steps before a soft light appeared ahead. The light emanated from a walnut-sized pearl on the ceiling of the cave. With the illumination provided by the pearl, Ding Hao was able to clearly make out the layout of the cave.

  The cave wasn't as narrow as the entrance, instead it had a spacious area of over ten zhang wide. The python monster lay on the left side, its head tilted back and resting at an angle. A mouthful of deep red blood was still flowing from under its neck, apparently it had been dead for some time.

  On the right side, sitting cross-legged, was probably that old man, but at this moment, the old man's entire body was shrouded in a black mist, his appearance unclear. Next to him was an object, its shape completely a miniature version of the python monster, only about one meter long, with five talismans covered in ghostly heads pasted all over its body, its life or death unknown!

  Ding Hao walked towards the python monster, and just now at the entrance of the cave, he saw that the back of the python monster's head had a dark purple glowing bead the size of a dragon eye. Ding Hao was especially curious, and when he arrived in front of the python monster, he discovered that this monster's head was twice as big as his own. The wound on the back of the python monster's head was wide open, and blood was still flowing out.

  Ding Hao inserted the hunting knife into the wound and twisted it a few times, making the wound even larger. The dark purple bead was now visible, and as soon as he picked it up, a wave of eerie, meaty fragrance wafted up to his nose. The scent clashed violently with the bloody smell that filled the entire cave, and as soon as the bead touched his hand, it seemed to connect with the blood vessels in his hand, pulsating in time with his heartbeat. This made Ding Hao feel a strange illusion, as if the bead had become a part of his own body. The eerie fragrance continued to tempt his olfactory nerves.

  It should be edible, right? Ding Hao thought so, and the next moment the pearl was already in his mouth, after entering his stomach, Ding Hao did not feel any discomfort, only that his body felt a bit hot.

  It was midsummer, and the heat didn't feel particularly unusual at first. But as time passed, Ding Hao began to realize that something was off. His body temperature was gradually increasing, as if there was a furnace inside him that was constantly heating up. By now, his clothes were completely soaked with sweat, as if he had just crawled out of the river wearing them.

  The heat showed no signs of stopping, and was still increasing. Ding Hao's muscles were all knotted together, the large arteries in his muscles pulsating violently, emitting a faint dark purple glow from all over his body. Unable to bear it, Ding Hao let out a beast-like roar, his blood vessels trembling as if they would burst at any moment. His entire body rolled around on the ground, using his fists, head, feet, and every part of his body to collide with the rocky walls of the cave, as if this could reduce the heat inside his body. At this point, Ding Hao had completely failed to notice that the old man opposite him was also undergoing a transformation!

  The dark mist surrounding the old man suddenly began to fade slowly, and upon closer inspection, it seemed as if the black mist was being slowly absorbed by the old man's body. The old man's features became clear and visible, with a youthful appearance of around fifty years old, but his hair remained jet-black and silky. Even in a seated position, one could sense that the old man's physique was exceptionally robust. His dark skin made him seem to blend into the darkness, and he wore a black robe made of some unknown material. A bone necklace hung from his neck, and his tightly closed eyelids twitched with an air of extreme urgency!

  This was the greatest pain Ding Hao had ever experienced in all these years. Wave after wave of even greater heat continuously attacked every nerve in his body, just as Ding Hao was about to faint from the heat, he discovered that it finally began to slowly weaken. Half a quarter of an hour later, the heat completely dissipated. Now, Ding Hao was like a beast on the verge of death, with his entire body cracked and bleeding, panting heavily. At this moment, Ding Hao felt that all his strength had just been exhausted!

  When he was able to move his first finger, he found that his strength was recovering rapidly, and the speed of recovery was so fast that it was beyond his understanding. The wounds on his body also seemed to be less painful!

  When his hand could pick up the hunting knife again, Ding Hao stood up and looked around, nothing had changed, except that the black fog on both sides of the old man's body was thinning out and about to disperse. At this time, he also saw the old man's face.

  For no reason, Ding Hao felt that the old man posed a threat to himself. Looking at his outfit, he was definitely not a good person. Ding Hao was also not a good person, and he had great confidence in his intuition. Since he felt that this person posed a threat to himself, he should eliminate the possibility before it became a reality. This was absolutely the wisest course of action!

  Ding Hao always felt that when the black fog around the old man completely disappeared was when he was active, and now the black fog had become even thinner.

  No longer hesitating, without any warning, Ding Hao's legs suddenly exerted force, and in the next moment, the hunting knife appeared three feet in front of the old man. With both hands holding the knife, he chopped down with all his might. Although he had not yet recovered to his optimal physical state, Ding Hao was certain that the old man would definitely die on the spot from this blow!

  The old man suddenly opened his eyes, and the pupils were actually emerald green. Ding Hao was shocked, and his hands paused for a moment. Just as he was about to chop again, he found that his wrists were firmly grasped by a large black hand, unable to move at all, and the bones of his wrists were almost cracking!